005055364

Music Since 1900

April 23, 2015

Examining Persian Popular Music

Upon examining a musical tradition, there are feelings of

hesitation because we are broadening our perspectives on unfamiliar
practices with which we are not accustomed too. For those who have
primarily studied music of the Western tradition, it may be a challenge
to examine a musical practice holistically; moreover, assumptions
about music may be carried over which do not apply in this context.
This goes to show that the cultural practices associated with musical
traditions are very specific yet inherently valuable for the information
they can provide about a musical aesthetic.
Scholars have dissociated themselves from examining popular
music because of its mass appeal, lack of authenticity based on
primitive art forms, and association with modern technology. This
neglect has made defining popular music rather difficult. However, a
criterion has been set for what Western society considers popular
music. It has an association with a mass audience and is primarily
urban in nature; it is performed by professionally trained musicians,
but normally not highly trained musicians who do not relate their works

with a certain degree of knowledge or intelligence; it bears a lower

degree of sophistication but does contain a relationship to the art
music of its culture; and it is diffused through the mass media of
broadcasting and recording. By subtracting music that is presented in
more of a Western style as well as certain religious spectacles such as
Koran chanting, I believe this criterion could be applied when
examining Persian Popular Music (PPM). But the role of music as well as
the cultural practices in Iran differs tremendously from what Western
society considers popular music.
Overall the attitudes towards art music in Iran are very different.
For example, many conservative families who do not have high
economic status discourage their children from participating in music
and suggest they pursue a more stable career such as engineering.
Regardless of this, traditional Persian classical music is deeply rooted
in Iranian culture. A typical Persian musician learns the radif of his
teacher (Ostd), who has been noted as a virtuosic performer or
professor. Radif in Farsi means order and is a collection of many
melodic figures that have been preserved and passed down through
oral traditions. These performers, using the radif, will improvise and
explore the same tonal area, echoing each other as the improvisation
develops (Naqvi 184). Short repeated phrases can also apply directly
to explore popular folk songs. Many popular musicians are active in the
world of classical music but also perform popular music. The main

difference between PPM derived from classical music is that the

performances are more centered on a small group and this is
particularly true with singers such as Salar Aghili.
Popular music can be divided into Western and Persian styles.
Foreigners often perform Western popular music in Iranian nightclubs
while PPM is performed in large music halls. As one of Irans leading
vocalists, Salar Aghili was born in Tehran in 1977. He gained
international attention through his collaborations with ensembles such
as the Tehran Symphony Orchestra and the Dastan Ensemble. His
programs consist of highly ornamental, improvisational, and meditative
music that features traditional Persian music as well as new
approaches to rarely heard popular songs. Persian artists characterize
his vocal technique as associating with the words tasnif and bulbul.
Iranians relate the word bulbul with a small bird or canary. This singing
technique along with tasnif is a style of singing centered on
improvisation. Using the radif, Salar is able to freely ornament and
express his own meanings behind the poetry. The act associated with
Salar Aghili is considered the mainstream style of PPM. These
performances consist largely of songs that are accompanied by an
orchestra. The songs are quick and metric, and are sung most
frequently by women in a relatively low, full voice, with a certain
amount of ornamentation(Nettl 224). The order that the melodies of

the radif provide does not just influence the singers artistic choices
but also the instrumentalists.
As mentioned above, there is a lot of Persian music that
combines traits of Western popular music with traditional Iranian
music. However, most Persian musicians do not make any distinctions
between various Western styles such as jazz, pop, gospel, and rock.
While Western pop albums contain around ten to twelve songs on a
single disc, Persian records normally contain four songs to a disc and
this is representative of a large variety of styles.
When this music is performed, Persian and Western instruments
are often combined but the separation between Western and PPM is
not as clear. Western popular music artists use instruments such as
the electric guitar, piano, organ, woodwinds, strings, and a drum kit
while PPM incorporates instruments used in Persian classical music.
Instruments such as the tr (long-neck stringed instrument with gourd
like belly), santour (trapezoid hammered dulcimer), and the
zarb(goblet-shaped drum) are what make PPM performances unique.
These ensembles tend to be small and they perform classically derived
music.
There are numerous other forms of PPM but popular music
derived from classical traditions is most prominent. Others include
Arabic dance music associated with belly dancing. So what can we as
Westerners take away from these musical traditions and ideas of PPM?

I called my cousin in Iran to ask him questions about his own journey.
He has had nothing less than a difficult life growing up in Shiraz, Iran
but he described that he worked hard to get to where he is today. That
being said, throughout his life he learned how to play the tr and
accompanies Salar Aghili in many of his performances on this
instrument. While he was not very skilled at speaking English, when I
asked him if he read music, he responded by saying that he learned
music outside of set theory and universities. He also stated that
improvisatory techniques are engrained in the DNA of Iranian
traditional music and the musicians who play it. A piece will begin with
a melody, which is quickly accompanied by another improvised
melody; moreover, you forget about the notes and play off of instincts.
He described Iranian traditional music being most similar to jazz
techniques. This perspective is consistent with the research that has
been done in regards to PPM.
While PPM can be challenging to define, it stands alone for the
aesthetic and techniques that are incorporated into the genre. This
music does combine many traits from Western traditions but the role of
music in this culture is significantly different. The cultural practices of
Iran are very unlike any other geographical area.

Questions

1. What can Westerners take away from how popular music is

approached in Iran?
2. Are there other genres that fit the criteria of Western popular music
in cultures other than the west? What is the same? What is different?

Bibliography
Nettl, Bruno. Persian Popular Music in 1969. Ethnomusicology. Vol.16
No. 2(1972): 218-239
Naqvi, Erum. Teaching Practices in Persian Art Music. The Oxford
Handbook of Philosphy in Music Education. Oxford,UK: Oxford UP,
2012.
Ali Kheshtinejad. Personal correspondence. April 15, 2015.